


No One (To Save Me Now)

by magnusfray (orphan_account)



Series: Black & Gold (KuroTsukki) [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 2nd year college Kuroo, 3rd year Tsukishima, Aged-Up Character(s), Hanahaki Disease, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 09:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7308700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/magnusfray
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from one-sided love, where the patient throws up and coughs of flower petals when they suffer from one-sided love. The infection can be removed through surgery, but the feelings disappear along with the petals.</p><p>OR</p><p>Tetsurou knows his love until the moment it isn't there anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No One (To Save Me Now)

**Author's Note:**

> Heads Up;  
> \- Kuroo is in his 2nd year of college/uni and on a team with Bokuto, Akaashi and Kenma.  
> \- Tsukki is 3rd year captain of Karasuno.  
> \- They've been together since the summer training camp (for the fic's sake, yeah?)
> 
> \-- Also it's like 2am and I've churned this out because _ideas won't die and I'll be damned if this just sits in my files like everything else_ so please ignore any spelling mistakes --
> 
>  **EDIT:** I've kind of twisted the idea of hanahaki a little. So instead of being one sided love at the start, it becomes that way through death.

He knows the instant it happens, because he's suddenly floored in the middle of a match, coughing up long spindly red petals and his heart _shatters_.

His team mates are by his side in a heartbeat, calling his name and asking what's wrong.

"Kuroo, _talk to me_. What's going on?"

Bokuto looks like he's crying, though he can't tell with all the tears in his own eyes; Akaashi has never sounded so frightened in all the years Tetsurou's known him and yet he can barely get enough air to answer.

There's a burning in his chest and ringing in his ears, as Tetsurou hacks up more red spider lily tendrils.

The match is stopped, the opposing college team looking just as shocked as his own, as Kenma gets Tetsurou to his feet. The violent coughing has subsided for now, but there's still the disgusting itchy feeling all the way down his throat.

The middle blocker sways, a sudden flash of vertigo forcing him to his knees once more.

The itching feeling makes Tetsurou cough again, more petals falling to the court as Kenma rubs his small hands down his friend's back.

"K-Kei..." Tetsurou finally chokes words out. "S-Someone call Kei."

Akaashi already has his phone in his hands and dials the blond Karasuno captain's number with practised ease.

Only this time, it keeps ringing and Kei never picks up.

Akaashi can only shake his head when Tetsurou looks at him, before hoping another contact would have answers.

Hinata answers on the second ring.

"Akaashi-san, now isn't a good time."

"Hinata, what's happened?"

The small red-head on the other end of the line doesn't answer straight away and it sounds like he's trying to hide his crying.

"It... It's Kei." He says after a minute.

_"Kei's gone."_

 

•••

 

Three weeks later, Tetsurou stands with his mother beside Akiteru and _his_ mother, watching as Kei's body is lowered into the ground.

The entire team from Karasuno is there - old and new - as well as Tetsurou's team from Tokyo. Other familiar faces are in the mourners and Tetsurou's somewhat surprised that he finds a good majority of the old Seijou and Dateko players in attendance.

It hasn't taken long for Tetsurou to find out what happened.

Kei had collided with the steel net supports during the final moments of an InterHigh match. Karasuno had won their game against Johzenji but at a terrible cost.

"The impact was so much that it knocked him out instantly." Akiteru had recounted. "No one even noticed until the final point had been won. Yamaguchi was the first to see him."

Yamaguchi is too distraught for much conversation, but accepts Tetsurou's gratitude for being there when Kei needed him most. Tetsurou doesn't mind even the slightest when Yamaguchi soaks his shoulder with salty tears when they hug.

Both Oikawa and Iwaizumi don't have much to say when they pass Tetsurou on their way out.

"We're sorry, he was a good kid."

Iwaizumi claps Tetsurou on the shoulder and looks a little red around the eyes as he guides a quietly sniffling Oikawa away from the gravesite with an arm around his waist.

No one says anything when Tetsurou vanishes behind an angel statue and coughs up more red petals.

Akaashi finds him soon after and gives him a comforting shoulder to lean on. The setter tells Tetsurou that he has to leave soon; Bokuto has cried himself to exhaustion and it's time for them to head back to Tokyo. Tetsurou agrees and thanks Akaashi for making the trip down despite everything.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Kei was our friend, too. Call us if you need us."

His mother decides to leave with Akaashi and Bokuto, kissing her son's forehead with a tired and sad smile.

 

•••

 

It's sunset by the time Tetsurou enters the Tsukishima's house, as per the request of both Akiteru and his mother.

"Please, stay as long as you'd like. I'm sure Kei would be so mad if we didn't keep you here for a while."

Akiteru tries his best to lighten the situation a little, as he guides Tetsurou to Kei's room (as if he hadn't traversed the path a thousand times before). He thanked the older Tsukishima before closing and locking the door.

Kei's room is neat and charming, with his normal uniform hung up by the door and a volleyball on his desk, next to a pile of homework that would never be completed.

The black cat plushie that Tetsurou had given him on their 1st anniversary sat pride of place on Kei's bed. Kei had been buried with the promise ring and his half of the pair necklace they'd bought together for their 2nd.

Tetsurou's half feels cold and oppressive against the bare skin under his suit; the ring sits on his finger and glints tauntingly in the final rays of sunlight coming through Kei's window.

He shrugs off his jacket and pulls off his tie, unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt and falling onto Kei's bed.

The blanket is soft and the pillows still smell like the shampoo that Kei used religiously, all cinnamon and lavender. Tetsurou had made fun of it at first, calling it feminine but eventually he'd grown to love it and now he would probably never get to smell it again.

He could feel the tightness in his chest again, the burning and aching sensation that he'd become accustomed to in the past few weeks. Tetsurou had no more tears to cry, having dried himself out the first few days after the news had reached him.

He vividly remembers the disbelief on Akaashi's face when Hinata told him; the jolting  _crash_ of the setter's phone hitting the court as it slipped out of his limp fingers. He remembers Akaashi stuttering (Akaashi _never_ stutters. Ever.) an apology in a hushed voice, before breaking the news to Tetsurou who had simply started to sob.

Now, with the funeral over and no one left to share their condolences, Tetsurou has nothing to do. He lays on Kei's bed for hours, watching the shadows dance across the ceiling of Kei's room and just remembering all the snarky words and soft touches that Kei left behind.

His only companion, is the ever growing pile of red petals on the blanket beside him.

 

_fin._

**Author's Note:**

> Ouch, my poor babies. I do like to make them suffer just a bit too much.
> 
>  **Red spider lilies** mean _never to meet again/lost memories/abandonment_
> 
> My tumblr is [futakuuchi](http://futakuuchi.tumblr.com/) if anyone wants to come say hi~


End file.
